When Did The Media-meme become "Bash EDWARDS"?

[liberalpragmatist]

Everywhere now I'm reading about how Edwards "didn't do anything" or was "a disaster as running mate." All the pundits and mediawhores are now saying he was "crushed" in the debates by Cheney.

All I have to ask is this - what planet was I on? Yes, Edwards wasn't as visible to the national media, but that's because the campaign wanted him to drum up support in rural areas. Unfortunately, rural voters didn't really like Kerry and weren't going to vote for the ticket just b/c they liked Edwards - people don't vote for Vice President. And in fact, according to emergingdemocraticmajority.com, the Kerry-Edwards ticket actually did better among rural voters than Gore.

And the DEBATE? Cheney was no W, and he was no pushover. But neither was Edwards. I thought Edwards was excellent - he more then held his own, and I thought he won. And most polls showed that respondents thought it was a draw. So when did the media-meme become "Edwards lost the debate"?

[seabeyond]

1. the media didnt present kerry and edwards, and when they

did it was negative and a story told created by repugs. that is the bottomline.

this is just more of their story

[Califooyah Operative]

because the conservatives are scared of him , so are the clintons, i dont

think he broke loose. but he needs to get a job a.s.a.p.

[sangh0]

2. I'm gonna make a guess

You saw this on cable?

(BTW, I haven't heard any of this. Not saying it isn't out there. I just haven't heard it.....yet)

[Vincardog]

3. FK em They can lie all they want. KE won

[derbstyron]

4. I agree with you about Edwards

He was my choice in the primary and I was wishy-washy on Kerry for the campaign until the VP selection. Although, really where was I going to go.

I thought Edwards was excellent in the debates. The media whores that said Cheney did great were conviently overlooking the fact that everything out of his mouth was a lie.

They are doing what they always do. Piling on. Far easier to do such things than to, oh, I don't know, say investigative journalism. God, remember those days?

I was talking with my friend about this the other day. Could you imagine if we had these corporate whores back in the Watergate days? My god, we are so fucked! :(

[BlueCaliDem]

13. I Voted for Edwards in the Primaries Too!

.....First, I chose Dean, and contributed to his campaign, and would've voted for him in the primaries too, were it not for him saying he's pulling out.
.....In the primaries, I voted for Edwards, and when he lost against Kerry, I was thinking of voting for David Cobbs this year, if Kerry didn't choose Edwards as running mate (partly because I'm more of a Greeniac these days, than a Democrat since the DNC refused to back Al Gore for '04!) because Cobbs, unlike Nader, said that the 2000 Election was stolen, unlike Nader, who said it wasn't (and independent statewide counts in Florida showed that Gore had won Florida's 25 Electoral votes by a small, 150 to 250).
.....If the Democratic Party fails to hold the Republican Party accountable for yet another election stolen, I'm voting Green, and so are my two voting-age sons from this day forward--except, I'll continue to vote for Barbara Boxer, who is a REAL Democrat!
.....Our votes may not get any Green party member elected anytime soon, but at least, the Greens, as we now see, are willing to fight to the bitter end in the name of Democracy.
.....And that means a lot to me.

[tjdee]

5. Some DUer called this--and it's stupid.

It's of course the dumbest thing in the world.

They were done picking over Kerry, so now they're moving on to Edwards.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. Despite the fact that the media ignored Edwards

he drew large crowds wherever he went.

I saw him in person in Gainesville, FL and he was awesome.

Despite waiting for almost two hours in sweltering heat, the crowd loved him. There were at least 5000+ people there.

Must be something coming down the pipe, that they are trying to try to discredit Edwards in advance?

[Sophree]

28. My friends and I went to see Edwards and Jimmy Buffett

In Broward County the Monday before the election. There were thousands there as well.

It was an incredible experience. Mr. Sophree actually got to shake Senator Edwards' hand. According to Mr. S, who is from S. Carolina, Edwards had a firm handshake and that there was an even firmer "pump" of acknowledgement when Mr. S. looked him in the eye and said, "Carolina."

It must be a Southern male thing or something, but Mr. S was elated. It's true that Edwards connected with more conservative and rural voters. Mr. Sophree, a libertarian-leaning conservative, voted for a Democratic ticket for the first time in his life and thinks Edwards should run in 2008! :D

Oh, and Jimmy Buffett wasn't too bad, either. ;-)

[aprillcm]

7. Seperating us

Is what the goal with all this postmortum is we can not allow it!

The Media is involved with Bush up to their eyeballs if they seperate us and make us believe we or the candidates did something wrong Bush win we must stay united no matter the outcome, we have to empower Kerry in the Senate.We have to work together no divisions.

[Joe Chi Minh]

8. Divide

and rule.

[aprillcm]

16. Yup thats the Repub Idea.

We can not allow it any longer.

[demodonkey]

9. John Edwards was GREAT, IMHO... I think he won his debate, and...

Both times I saw him speak, he was like a rock star. A VERY exciting and appropriate speaker.

And the 2nd rally was 2 days before the election, when they all were exhausted and the poor man probably also already knew about Elizabeth's health problems... but he went on and got it done like a trooper. And that ain't easy. God bless him.

[Mira]

10. I think Edwards was dynamite, except for the constant thumb.

I also think he made a very special kind of mince meat out of Cheney in the debate: he enraged him, so he was off balance, and he was reliably there for every single point that was made. He was on top, and stayed on top.
I think the vice presidential debate was the best of all of them. And I do not say this, just because I live in NC and Edwards is - was my senator.

[0rganism]

11. The second he signed on to the Democratic presidential ticket

Understand. These media attacks are not custom-built for each politician, they are of a standard design that needs just a little tailoring to fit any candidate the media owners decide to target. ANY VP candidate could be the butt of the "where was he" criticism, when in fact Edwards' media visibility problem was due solely to the choices of the media itself.

As far as the mass media is concerned, Democrats are all losers at whatever Democrats do. We must apologize for our poor performance. Even if we win, the media will ask why our margin of victory is not greater.

Liberals will never have a "mandate" as long as the media has a vested interest in propping up the Military/Industrial complex.

[Clarkie1]

12. I think Edwards may have hurt the ticket

I only bring this up because I think that we democrats need to look at what considerations go into the selecton of VP in times of terrorism and war when the #1 issue on people's minds is national security.

And no, I don't think Clark would have been a good VP choice. There were many others with the requisite gravitas, such as Joe Biden.

The perception is Edwards was chosen for his looks and charisma, and moreover that he is inexperienced in the matters that voters most had on their minds. Yet there was a big push within the democratic party for Kerry to choose Edwards, simply because he was popular within a vocal segment of the party.

The choice of VP was the first presidential decision Kerry made. Unfortunately to many Americans the criteria that led him to that choice did not look presidential, it looked political.

Kerrys choice should have been a VP best qualified to take over in the event of an unforseen attack or other national emergency.

In many voters eyes, I believe Kerry failed this key test and it may have cost him the election.

[spooky3]

14. What's your evidence of this? If you look at the poll #s for Kerry, they

took a big bump upwards right after he chose Edwards. They stayed relatively high until August, and you know what happened then.

Edwards and Mrs. Edwards did everything a VP candidate could possibly do for the ticket, as others on this thread have pointed out.

The reasons Kerry lost--if in fact he did--had nothing to do with Edwards.

[liberalpragmatist]

15. I dunno - Kerry's poll numbers rose when he announced Edwards

And the choice was deemed favorable by most voters in polls.

[JudyM]

19. Are you kidding? Edwards was great - he's charismatic and articulate

and emotionally grounded has a great way of connecting with people and painting ideas graphically. Don't hold his good looks and relative youth against him. I hope he rises in the party permanently because he is IMO a believable politician.

[havocmom]

17. The Corporate owned media will try driving stakes through the hearts of

every single photogenic DEM with a brain for the next 4 years. Count on it.

The thing we have to accept is the 'the campaign' is 24/7 all year every year. It is how propaganda works. Then, by the time candidates actually start running, a large part of the population has already had their minds decided for them and getting out real messages/agendas just can't quite get through.

The DLC needs to pull their heads out and realize there is a war going on and it isn't Civil at all.

[geek tragedy]

18. He didn't even win his home precinct, let alone state.

No value added to the ticket.

Sorry, but he was never one of my top choices for the nomination when he was running.

[AP]

20. Shouldn't be surprised. Right now he's the strongest candidate for '08 so

they have to take him down.

I'd be more worried if they ignored him. That they're doing this is a sign that he's a threat.

The question is, will it work?

[geek tragedy]

21. I disagree that he's a big threat to the Repugs in 2008.

But, I've never been his biggest fan. I just think Senators make lousy, lousy presidential candidates.

It's a matter of recriminations--the members of the losing ticket are catching all kinds of shit. Look at all of the shit being thrown at Kerry--even on this site.

[DemPopulist]

23. He won't be a senator in '08

[geek tragedy]

25. He'll be a former Senator.

A lot depends on what he does between now and then.

[cali]

22. On what basis do you judge him to be

the strongest candidate? And who precisely, are the evil and dastardly "they"? Why are they out to get him? This stuff is getting ridiculous.

[AP]

24. (1) history, (2) the campaign he ran, and (3) the issues he stands for.

What's getting ridiculous? Sensibly reflecting on how campaigns are waged and won or lost in the media?

[Tweed]

32. So in the primaries when they were kissing his feet?

What was that all about? I guess reverse psychology? DAMN! That media they are so smart. Members of the media never get accurate opinions or speak their minds as opposed to their political motivations. Every single media piece is a pure political positioning by each member. :eyes:

You might want to take you tin foil hat and Edwards rose colored glasses off and realize that the analysis is the way members of the media see things in retrospect.

To claim that the media is against Edwards now because he is the best candidate for 2008 is a far stretch even for someone like you to make.

[Carolinian]

26. They are scared shitless of Edwards. He was great and they know it!

[Sophree]

29. Exactly!

He is/was fantastic and they f-ing know it.

Whores. Ptt, ptt. I spit on them all.

[VOX]

27. Not "reality-based." Corporate media re-writing fact to suit its agenda...

It's never too early for the right wing to lay the groundwork for 2008. A big part of this will be to belittle Edwards, early and often.

It's an utter fabrication, but then, so is most everything that comes out of the right-wing machine -- their version of 1984's "Ministry of Truth" -- war is peace, freedom is slavery, and "Cheney mopped the floor with Edwards."

Bullshit. :grr:

[DeepModem Mom]

30. When Rove gave the order to start destroying Edwards for 2008...

See my sig line.

[Sophree]

31. I'm sure he gave them the marching orders.

About your sig. line, I never thought of it that way, but Mr. Miller is exactly right. Karl Rove+compliant whorish press=bye bye democracy.

[SoCalDem]

33. They are afraid he might run again..and only have 4 years to "kill" him

They are media assassins... IT's their goal to destroy anyone who is not the "chosen one".. If they trash him for the next 4 years, and he does decide to try again, the public will have already formed a negative opinion of him..

That's what it's all about..and it ain't the hokey-pokey

[Awsi Dooger]

34. Ultimate bottom line pursuit

If we had won, Schrum learned from his past failures and forged a brilliant campaign. Kerry was the perfect candidate to oppose an incumbent. Edwards wooed just enough rural Ohioans via his debate victory over Cheney.

Utterly predictable. I remember a pre-election thread when many of us agreed Kerry would be considered a taller Dukakis if he lost. Very harsh profession.I know I could never handle it.

[AgadorSparticus]

35. when they have nothing else to talk about? the economy still sucks.

the war still sucks. everything still the same---sucky. so what have they got to talk about but how crappy edwards is as a second on a ticket. it's either that or clinton's penis is too large for america to handle.

but personally, i think it is a defensive move on their part for cheney going into the hospital. they are afraid of his ailing health and want to shift the focus in fear of something. they are freaking out about something.